Zanzibar Muslims, Officials Stop Church Building, Erect Mosque

Islamists demolish foundation; police withhold crime report from court

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries

MWANYANYA-MTON, ZANZIBAR (ANS) — Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that Zanzibar officials have colluded with local Muslims to stop a church building going ahead so they could erect a mosque in its place.

The CDN report said, “On an island off the coast of East Africa, where the local government limits the ability of Christians to obtain land, officials in one town have colluded with area Muslims to erect a mosque in place of a planned church building.

“On the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, Pastor Paulo Kamole Masegi of the Evangelistic Assemblies of God had purchased land in April 2007 for a church building in Mwanyanya-Mtoni, and by November of that year he had built a house that served as a temporary worship center, he said.

“Soon area Muslim residents objected, said Pastor Lucian Mgaywa of the Church of God in Tanzania.”

The story went on to say that in August 2009, local Muslims began to build a mosque just three feet away from the church plot. In November 2009, Pastor Masegi began building a permanent church structure.

“Angry Muslims invaded the compound and destroyed the structure’s foundation, the pastors said. Church leaders reported the destruction to police, who took no action – and also refused to release the crime report, so that the case could not go to court,” the story added.

CDN stated that the local station police chief told Pastor Masegi “It’s not possible to take the file to the court, because doing so would amount to defending Christianity.”

The story concluded that meantime, construction of the mosque was completed in December 2009. The planned church building’s fate appeared to have been sealed earlier this year when Western District Commissioner Ali Mohammed Ali notified Pastor Masegi that he had no right to hold worship in a house.

“Now the Christian faithful are feeling targeted even by the government officials,” said Pastor Masegi.

For more information, go to www.compassdirect.org.